Greeneville wasted no time at the plate and backed it up with another dominant outing on the mound, rolling past Grainger 10-0 in five innings at Eastman Credit Union Field at Pioneer Park. The win moves the Greene Devils one step closer to another District 2-3A title and secures their spot in next week’s Region 1-3A tournament, with a championship game set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
“It was almost a carbon copy of yesterday,” assistant coach Andy Barnett said. “We came out swinging, put up four early, and added two more in the second.”
Every Greeneville starter contributed to a 14-hit performance. Kaine Ricker led the way, going 3-for-3 with an inside-the-park home run. Grayson Crosby, Will Harmon, and Jack Lister each added two hits.
Harmon was just as effective on the mound, keeping Grainger off balance from the start. The left-hander needed just 68 pitches to complete the five-inning shutout, striking out 11 while allowing no hits. Only two runners reached base — one via walk and another after being hit by a pitch.
“There’s just a different kind of adrenaline in the playoffs,” Harmon said as he completed his third no-hitter of the year. “It fueled me tonight. Everything felt good, and it seemed like my velocity kept climbing.”
Greeneville jumped ahead with a two-out rally in the first. After Ricker reached and was erased on a fielder’s choice, Crosby singled to put runners on the corners. Sam Thompson followed with an RBI single to center, scoring courtesy runner Silar Lewis. A wild pitch moved both runners up before Kase Spradlen lined another single to center, driving in two more. Spradlen later stole second, advanced to third on an error, and scored on a double steal to make it 4-0.
The Devils added two more in the second. Ricker collected his second hit, and Harmon followed with a line-drive single, leaving runners at first and third. After a stolen base, Crosby delivered again with a two-run single to right, stretching the lead to 6-0.
Ricker highlighted the fourth inning, lifting the first pitch he saw and deep it into the right-center gap before circling the bases for an inside-the-park homer.
“After swinging at the first pitch the first two times up, I didn’t think he’d throw another first-pitch fastball,” Ricker said. “But he did, and once I saw it get down, I thought maybe triple. Then the coaches kept waving me, so I kept going.”
Greeneville ended it in the fifth with three runs on four straight singles. Colton Smith and Lister opened the inning with back-to-back hits, and Jaxon Winter drove in Smith with a single to center. After a misplay advanced the runners, Maddox Bishop delivered a two-run single to seal the run-rule victory and send the Devils to the championship round.
Barnett emphasized consistency as the key to the Greene Devil’s best chance moving forward. “Same thing as I said yesterday. If we come out and swing the bat like that, get runners on second base and get up some timely hits, get great pitching again, and keep making plays defensively we will be ok.”
